Echoes
by Garfunkle and Newt
Summary: They distanced themselves and led separate lives, but the fate accumulated to bring them together on one momentuous night. Literati.
1. Karma Police

**Chapter One – Karma Police**

Her head was in her hands. Her shirt was ripped and smeared with blood, and her face was wet with tears. But she bit her lip angrily and refused to let herself cry any more than she already had. Too many tears had already been spilled that evening. Finn was pacing nervously in front of her, his hands jerking through his hair.

There's nothing like a car wreck to sober you up.

A man in scrubs and a clipboard walked briskly to Rory and Finn from down a hall, and stopped in front of her chair, glancing at his clipboard. He paused and looked first at Rory, then at Finn.

"It appears that Mr. Huntzburger has sustained a minor concussion. We're going to keep him here for the night under observation, but he's fully conscious." He pointed down the hall he had come from. "Third door on the left."

* * *

As soon as they left the bar, she knew she shouldn't have gotten in the car. She had even been considering calling a cab, but even after four beers, Logan still had that amazing power to talk her into anything. And so he had talked her right into that car, with Finn and Colin and himself. All of them had had way too much to drink and were fully aware of the fact.

"Relax," he had said when she had started to protest. "We're ten minutes away."

"I've never got pulled over once when I've been drunk," Colin added. "And I've driven with way more to drink than this."

"If Colin can speak, he can drive," Finn slurred from the backseat, propped up against the side door.

The alcohol in her system helped her to ignore the voice of her own common sense, and she got into the car.

"As least put your seatbelts on," she said, pouncing on Finn, strapping him in, and buckling her own seatbelt. Logan got into the passenger seat. Colin fumbled with his seatbelt and was having a difficult time guiding the metal part into the buckle. He cursed under his breath and gave up, starting the car.

Colin drove exceptionally well for a person at his level of intoxication. Nevertheless, at Logan's insistence, they stayed to on back roads for as long as they could. Logan said they would be less likely to get pulled over, because cops rarely drove down the roads themselves. They would have made it back to the campus safely if it hadn't been for the squirrel that dashed across the road in front of the car. Colin swerved seconds after the creature was already off the road, and the car smashed into a tree. Logan's head hit this side window before his airbag activated, and Colin's only engaged once he had followed the glass windshield that popped out of the frame and landed headfirst in a bush. Finn hadn't moved because of the seatbelt, and Rory only felt minor whiplash. Finn was groaning and Logan was silent. Rory heard no noise from the bushes.

She undid her seatbelt and climbed out of the car, stumbling towards the bushes. The windshield was in one piece with circular cracks spanning outwards originating from where Colin's head had hit. When she saw the blood, she was overcome with nausea. She turned and vomited beside the car. She wiped her mouth and walked uncertainly to the bush where Colin had landed; horrified that he would be unconscious or worse. But the bushes rustled, and an arm emerged, and Rory helped pull him to flat ground. He was holding his other arm gingerly, and it was bent at an odd angle.

"I have to go," He said, as soon as he was able to stand. He swayed and fell over.

"We all do. I have a cell phone. I'll call an ambulance."

"That's not what I mean. I have to leave, get out of here, and you can't tell them I was here, because I'll get busted. We'll all get busted and that won't be good."

Rory looked at him, not understanding. "You're hurt, your arm is broken."

"It's nothing, not compared to what will happen if they know I crashed because I was drinking, so I'll go and you make something up."

"I can't let you go!" She cried. He was trying to pull himself to his feet. Blood was tricking down his temple from the top of his head and his hands and arms were cut up and bleeding from his plunge into the bush.

"Go call an ambulance, see if the others are okay. I'll be fine." He was on his feet again, fumbling as he walked further into the forest.

Rory had been so momentarily focused on Colin that she had forgotten about the others.

"Finn, are you alright?" She called, approaching the car again.

"Yeah," he croaked, still not having moved from his position in the backseat.

"Logan?" No response. She opened the door and shook him. "Logan!"

He rolled his head groggily. She breathed a sigh of relief. But she knew he had banged his head, and she'd seen her fair share of concussion movies. She waited until he until he had opened his eyes, then held three fingers in front of his face.

"How many?"

His brow furrowed as he tried to focus on her hand. Then his eyes widened and he looked around frantically.

"I'm going to call an ambulance," she whispered, scared.

"Where's Colin?" Finn said, struggling to free himself from his seatbelt.

"He left. Didn't want to be here when the police show up." She left Logan and went to the backseat. She fumbled through her purse until her fingers wrapped around her cell phone. She dialled 911. There was no reception.

"Dammit!" She cried. "Finn, keep an eye on Logan."

Rory started to walk back to the road they had driven on. It was dark, and after five minutes of standing there, no headlights approached. She could see lights of cars driving on an intersecting road, about a five-minute walk. She started down the road, crying, thinking of how she should have insisted they didn't drive. Logan was hurt, and Colin was roaming the woods with a broken arm. The night had been too long. She hadn't even wanted to come out to that bar with them. She was tired, she had a splitting headache, her clothes were ripped and bloody, and she just wanted to go to sleep.

"Hey, hey! Please! Someone!" She was at the road, she was frantically waving her arms, and no cars were pulling over.

After another five minutes, a police car pulled over beside her.

"Need some help there, miss?" Then he shone his pocket flashlight on her and saw the blood.

She was suddenly crying again. "We… there was an accident," She choked out.

"An accident? Where?"

Rory raised a hand and pointed a shaky finger down the road she walked up.

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Yes, the thr-" she stopped herself. "Two other people in the car."

"Why don't you sit down in the car here, miss, and can I get your name?"

"Rory. Rory Gilmore."

* * *

Rory and Finn stood hesitantly in the hallway, just outside the door to Logan's room. Finn motioned for Rory to enter first, always the gentleman. Her feet were rooted to the ground and she couldn't budge.

"It's hard for me too," he whispered, "but we have to go in."

Rory nodded. Neither of them moved.

Finn finally sighed and plunged into the room, with a grim look on his face that would be better suited to a man about to confront a homicidal maniac.

"Hey, Finn," She heard Logan's feeble voice from inside the room, and shuffled two steps farther from the door.

"You look good," Finn stammered.

"You sure? It's pretty ugly under the bandage. I'm sure it'll scare all the chicks away."

From what she could hear from the hall, Rory could tell that Logan was in good spirits. Finn seemed to gather that as well, and changed his tone.

"Nah, it's a battle wound. Chicks find that hot."

There was a brief silence. Rory took that as her cue to enter the room.

Logan didn't look as bad as she had imagined, although three hours in the police station and three more hours in the waiting room alone with Finn and her imagination had prepared her for the worst. A white bandage was wrapped around his head, but a few strands of blond hair poked through. There was a small red patch on the right side of his head, which was a great contrast to the white; blood had begun to seep through the gauze, and he needed it to be changed soon.

"Ace," he said, his face brightening when he saw her. He tried to sit up, but winced at the pain and eased himself back onto the bed. Worry clouded Rory's face. He shook his head and announced that he was fine.

She swallowed. "Does it… hurt?"

"Nah, not at all," he said, shaking his head lightly. "Though that could be all the drugs they have me on."

Finn chuckled and walked over to the window. "Have the coppers been round to you yet?"

"Yeah, but my lawyer's not here yet so I'm not obligated by law to answer anything," Logan grinned. "Why, what did you tell them?"

Rory looked gravely at Finn. "We didn't have the most convincing story."

"Them coppers aren't the brightest breed, they'll buy it." He stretched and sat on the heater the under the window.

* * *

In a room that didn't fit the stereotype of a typical interrogation room, Rory felt nonetheless exposed. It wasn't a dark room lit solely by a swinging overhead lamp, but a cold, bright and angular room that seemed to be lit from all sides. Rory dared not look at the mirrored wall; she had seen enough cop shows to know there were probably detectives sneering at her from behind it, watching her every move. She had been sitting alone for twenty minutes, and her levels of apprehension and impatience were rising.

Finally, the door opened and two cops came in. One was tall and had a friendly face, and the other was short, stocky and had a grim look of determination in his eyes. They sat in the two chairs at the opposite side of the table as Rory.

The tall cop introduced himself as Eddie Fischer, and he had a soothing quality to his voice that had an equally calming effect on Rory. He introduced his partner as Lieutenant Hoffritz.

"So, Rory," Fischer began. "Have you notified your family yet?"

She shook her head. "My mom's on a business trip, and I don't want to worry her until she gets back." This was partially true; Rory didn't want Lorelai to cut her trip short because her daughter had made a stupid mistake. Then again, Lorelai would be angry when she came back and found out that her daughter hadn't informed her right away. She hadn't phoned her grandparents because they would scowl in disappointment at her, and she didn't want to disappoint them. She also didn't want to seem like she was using them just for their connections and attorneys.

Rory figured she didn't need a lawyer, as long as she stayed relatively close to the truth.

Hoffritz cleared his throat, clearly wishing to get past the chit chat and get down to work. He glanced at a piece of paper that was in front of him on the table.

"Miss Gilmore. I'd like you to tell me what exactly happened tonight."

His voice was gruff but not entirely cruel, just commanding of authority. Rory felt a surge of adrenaline as she realized that she was about to lie to police. She was not a liar. But she had to tell the story with a slight distortion, lest she condemn herself and everyone else in the car to a far worse fate.

She took a deep breath and began to recall the events of the night, telling the cops exactly how things happened. She didn't exactly lie; she just avoided talking about Colin. She didn't mention that he'd had anything to drink. She told them about the squirrel, the crash, and how Colin went through the windshield because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt.

She paused and thought about how exactly she was going to say the next part. She had been going through what she would say in her head when she had been alone in the room, but the interrogation hadn't been going as she had planned.

"I felt dizzy. I didn't move for a bit. Finn was moving and talking and alright, and Logan wasn't moving, and he didn't respond when I called to him. I heard Colin moving around in the bushes. I figured he was fine, so I didn't move right away. When I got out of the car, I didn't know how long it'd been, I went over to the bush and he wasn't there. I called his name but he didn't answer. So I ran to the road to get help."

She slid against the back of her chair and raised her eyes to meet the cops'. They were both staring intently at her, and she was surprised to find that neither of them looked sceptical.

Next came the dreaded question. "Did Colin have anything to drink?"

Her heart pounded and she thought that they would hear it for sure. But she kept a relatively expressionless face and tired her best to keep the croak out of her voice.

"No. He was the designated driver."

* * *

"Did you get Captain Crunch and the Jolly Green Giant too?" Finn had started pacing the hospital room. It seemed to be a nervous habit.

"Hoffritz and Fischer. Yeah," She said.

"Any word on Colin?" Logan asked from the bed.

"No, I haven't heard from him since… then." Rory began to fidget with a band-aid on her finger. "I think I need some coffee."

"Go for it, Ace. If anyone can sniff out a coffee machine in this hellhole, it's you."

Rory gladly left his side. Although Logan was in a chipper mood, the tension was still thick in the room. Rory blamed herself for Logan's being in the hospital in the first place. She should have insisted they not get into the car. She should have stopped them.

As she stumbled down the hospital hall, tears erupted for her eyes again. Colin was missing and it was her fault. She should have forced them to take a cab. She should have at least put on his seatbelt for him.

She tripped over a pile of black clothes that was sticking out into the hall.

"Watch it!" the pile of clothes mumbled. Except it moved, and Rory saw through her teary eyes that was not a pile of clothes but in fact a person. The person sat up and rubbed his eyes. He stared at Rory in a stupor.

She wiped her eyes and looked back at the person. She gasped.

Dirt, razor stubble and years of drug use could not hide the fact that the person she was staring at was Jess Mariano.


	2. High and Dry

**Chapter Two – High and Dry**

Jess rubbed his eyes wearily, yawning and turning his head away from the hospital bed that he'd been staring at for the last hour. She was sleeping, or in a coma or something; he didn't know the exact details. The doctors wouldn't bring him up to speed because he wasn't family. And also probably because he looked as bad as her.

He didn't love her. They weren't even dating. He was only sitting in her hospital room because he felt that it was his fault that she was there in the first place. No need to tell the doctors that, though. Just play the part of the dutiful boyfriend.

When he looked back, she still hadn't moved. He hadn't expected her to be doing the salsa on the bed, but a nice blink would be comforting. He studied her face, and felt that familiar lump rise in his throat.

"I'm so sorry, Tammy," he whispered.

Tammy Hoffritz's eyes were normally very large, but lately the skin around them had turned thin and stretched out, and they now appeared sickly prominent. Her skin had a greyish tint, which Jess hadn't noticed until this morning. Her once bright red hair had been reduced to a pile of dull, limp mush that sat on the pillow around her head. He had used to think that she had beautiful hair, even though he had always been partial to brunettes.

Jess's patience was ebbing. He finally stood and began to pace between Tammy's bed and the chair he had just occupied. No relatives had come to visit her yet, though it was only recently that she had been admitted to the hospital. He cringed when he thought of what would happen when her family came here. They would naturally assume that he was a crazed addict and what happened to Tammy was completely his fault. But it wasn't; at least not all of it.

* * *

Jess had never been into any hard drugs. He smoked pot a couple times a week, but he never tried anything worse. When he'd first moved to New York City, he'd been living alone in a shady part of town, with a minimum-wage job and very little income. He soon got sucked into the world of dealing; the temptation of cash far worth the risk of jail. He handled some serious drugs, but was wise enough not to try any himself. He had no friends besides his business acquaintances, and hadn't contacted his family since moving away from Stars Hollow many years ago. If he was lonely, he didn't show it.

About seven months ago, Jess got busted for possession. When he got back to his apartment six months later, he found it empty. Remarkably, however, his car still remained where he had last parked it, with almost a full tank of gas. With nothing binding him to the city, he got into his car and drove east until his gas ran out. He found himself in the heart of New Haven, Connecticut. A part of him was annoyed at being remotely close to his uncle Luke, but he pretended not to care that he was in someway glad. With no money, he found another minimum-wage job and fell into the rhythm that was his life in New York. He started dealing again, and his businesses led him to Tammy Hoffritz. Her last boyfriend had got her hooked on cocaine, and Jess took pity on her and tried to help ease her off her addiction.

Tammy would come to his apartment three or four times a week, and they'd smoke some pot and fool around a bit. The last time she had come over, she had complained of hunger, so Jess left her alone while he went to the corner store to pick up some chips.

When he came back, he saw her face-down on the kitchen table with white powder spread around her head.

"Shit!" he said, dropping the bag of chips and rushing towards her. But he was puzzled because he knew he didn't have any coke in the apartment, and he had made sure she didn't have any on her when she came in.

He lifted her head and saw a trickle of blood coming from her nose. Her eyes were open, but she didn't appear to be looking at anything. Her pupils were pinpoints.

"What the fuck have you done, Tammy?" He picked up an empty Ziploc bag from the floor, and recognized it as his own. He rushed over the his nightstand and opened the drawer where he kept the narcotics that he would later sell. He did a quick inventory check, and found a bag of heroin to be missing.

"Fuck!" Apparently, Tammy had raided his drawer and found the bag of white powder. She had assumed it was cocaine, and set herself up for some lines. She had never used heroin before, so she had a very low tolerance for it; far lower than her tolerance for cocaine. She had quickly overdosed.

Jess tilted her head back and searched for a pulse on her neck. The pulse he finally found was weak. He knew he couldn't do anything for her here, but was hesitant to bring her to the hospital. He would be asked questions, and if police were involved, they would eventually be led back here.

He had no other option. He scooped Tammy into his arms, and navigated through his open front door and down three flights of stairs to his car. She didn't move the whole time. He laid her across the backseat, shut the door, and sprinted back to his apartment. He emptied the entire contents of his nightstand drawer into a large paper bag. He grabbed the two large wads of cash that laid on his bed and stuffed them into his pockets. He left the kitchen as it was and locked the door behind him.

Before going to the hospital, Jess made two stops. He first stopped at the house of a business associate, and paid the guy two hundred dollars to look after the bag until he came to retrieve it. Jess told him that he'd give him another $400 when he came back. He then went to the bank, and deposited the rest of the cash into a bank account that he rarely used.

When he got to the hospital, he picked up Tammy again and rushed inside. He tried to stay calm, but he didn't know what to do.

It was only seven o'clock, and there weren't a ton of people in the emergency room.

"Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?" the receptionist peered at him curiously and then eyed the limp body he was carrying.

Jess's throat was dry. "I think she OD'd on heroin. She needs help now."

The woman furrowed her brow and turned to her left, calling over her shoulder. "Tina, can you get a stretcher and call Dr. Payton?" she turned back to Jess. "I need you to fill out this form, hon." She pushed a piece of paper and a pen across the counter to Jess.

"I don't know that much about her," he tried to explain, but the stretcher came and Tammy was whisked away.

"You're not family?"

"No. I know her, but… not that well. I found her like that."

"Then just fill out the name, and we'll try to get in contact with her family." The receptionist had a soothing voice, but Jess was far from calm. A thin layer of sweat had begun to form on his face. "Are you okay, honey?"

"I'm fine," he said, feeling a burst of annoyance. "Just tell me when she gets into a room."

"Alright," the woman said, watching him until he sat down on a hard bench across from the counter.

About an hour later, a nurse walked up to Jess with a clipboard. "Tammy Hoffritz is in room 214. Right down the hall."

"Thanks," he mumbled, he headed off into her room.

* * *

Jess had been waiting in silence for two hours, sitting in a chair and trying not to look at Tammy. He decided to tell the police that Tammy had brought whatever she'd snorted, and that he had no clue what it was. He was going to play dumb, and avoid connecting the prospect of drugs with himself.

"Who the hell are you?" a voice grunted from the doorway. A stout cop stood at the threshold of Tammy's room.

So the cops were here now. Jess swallowed. "Jess Mariano."

The cop eyed him suspiciously and then looked at the hospital bed. A strange look came over his face as he saw the girl lying there; and Jess could have sworn he saw a tear glisten from the man's eye.

The guy shook his head and turned to Jess. The only emotion that showed on his face was anger. "What happened?"

"Look, it's not my fault, and you don't have to act all pissed at me. I'm just trying to help you do your job." Jess was nervous, but he talked as if annoyed.

Instead, the cop showed annoyance. "My job? I'm off duty."

"Then why are you here?"

The man scowled at Jess. "I'm Alan Hoffritz. Tammy's father."

Jess's eyes widened in surprise.

"Now would you mind telling me what happened?"

The guy had a very commanding voice. Like he took no nonsense. Jess thought that he must have made a great cop. Normally, Jess would have completely clammed up and maybe grunted a few one-word answers. But this guy intimidated him, and Jess was used to doing the intimidating himself. He also felt kind of sorry for the guy, and resolved to cooperate.

"What did they tell you?" Jess asked, wanting to know how much of his story he'd have to embellish on.

"The doctor said it was a heroin overdose and she's in a coma. Now I want exactly happened and what you did to her."

"I didn't do anything!" Jess decided to stick closely to the truth. That way, if there was an investigation, there would be less holes in his story and he would be more credible. "We've been seeing each other for awhile. She came to my place tonight, and told me she was hungry. So I left her in the apartment and went to get some food. I swear, I was gone ten minutes tops. I came back and found her like that on my kitchen table. I took her here right away."

The man didn't say anything. He still looked suspicious of Jess. He turned back to his daughter.

"Look, man, I didn't do this to her."

Hoffritz's head snapped around and he glared at Jess straight on. "You listen to me, you punk kid. My only daughter is fucked up in a coma because of something you did. I hold you responsible, and I'm going to make sure that I find out exactly what happened, because I don't believe your bullshit. Not one bit. And if I -"

The cop was cut off by the ringing of his cell phone. He turned away from Jess and answered it. "I'm off duty. What do you want?" He let out a frustrated sigh as he heard out the guy on the other end. "Car wreck and possible DUI? Can't you get someone else to question the kids? I'm kind of busy here." He paused. "Fischer's not that much of an idiot, he can do it by himself." Silence. "Fine, I'll be there in ten minutes."

Hoffritz turned back to Jess. "I'm not done with you yet. I'll be back."

"You're assuming I have nothing better to be doing than sitting in a hospital in staring at a girl in a coma," Jess retorted.

"If you know what's good for you." The cop left and Jess felt like punching something.

* * *

Two hours after the cop left, Jess got tired of sitting in the hospital room. He couldn't bare to see Tammy's face looking so lifeless, and the smells of the hospital were starting to make him feel sick. He knew that he couldn't leave the hospital. If Hoffritz came back and Jess was gone, he would surely track him down and make his life miserable.

Jess took a walk down the hall and re-entered the Emergency waiting room. He saw a guy with a nail through his hand, some bloodied up kids, a woman with a screaming baby, and teenage boy crying with his head in his hands. Jess decided that the room was only further depressing him. He wanted to smoke some pot and relax a bit, but he'd given up his stash of marijuana for the time being along with the other street drugs in the paper bag.

He was tired beyond belief. The last few hours had been really draining on him. He wanted to find somewhere to sleep, but was hesitant to go back to Tammy's bedside. He settled instead on the hallway outside her room. Making sure to leave room for passing stretchers and trolleys, Jess slumped down against the wall and covered his head with his black jacket.

He quickly fell asleep, and bright colours spun around in his head as he slid into the vivid dream that so often haunted him. He was back in Stars Hollow, walking through the town, but it was empty. He was puzzled, but continued down the main street. He eventually got to the Gilmore house, and found it empty as well. For some reason, he ventured into Rory's bedroom. He saw her body dangling from a noose that hung from her ceiling. As he ran to her body, she lifted her head.

"Why did you leave me, Jess?" she would say. Every night he had the dream, he would wake up panting, in a cold sweat. This time, however, he remained in the dream, staring at her. She opened her mouth and was about to say something else, when Jess was jerked from the dream as something hard hit his legs.

"Watch it," he mumbled, still half asleep. He opened his eyes, rubbed them, and shifted so that he was sitting up. He glanced at the girl who had apparently tripped over him. She was pretty but it appeared that she had been through a rough night. Her clothes were torn in places, and she had scrapes on her arms, surrounded by dried blood. As Jess's eyes adjusted to reality, he wondered if he was still dreaming.

The girl who stood before him was none other than Rory Gilmore.


	3. Just

**Chapter 3 - Just**

She just stood there, staring at him, and he sat there staring back at her. Neither spoke a word. Rory couldn't think of anything to say. Ever since Jess had left Stars Hollow, she'd been so angry that she'd spent a great deal of time thinking of snide remarks to say to him should they ever encounter. Now, she searched her mind, but found herself unable to remember anything. All she could focus on was his face, and the dark eyes that bore into her. He was looking her at like he always used to; it was the look that intimidated her, yet left her unable to tear her eyes away. She needed to say something. Her throat was dry. It seemed as if he hadn't even blinked.

After what seemed like years, she cleared her throat. "Jess." Her voice crackled.

He nodded but remained silent.

She never felt that there was any doubt that it was him, but the conformation sent an inexistent wind to leave her skin prickling.

He still hadn't moved yet. He was just sitting, propped up on his arms, looking at her without moving or saying anything. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't think of anything to say, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from his.

She had momentarily forgotten about Logan and the events that had troubled her night up to this point.

"Rory," someone called from behind her.

She jerked her gaze away from Jess' and saw Finn walking briskly towards her.

"Logan sent me to find you. He said you must have gotten lost."

Rory looked back at Jess and saw that he hadn't moved or changed his expression. She looked back at Finn irritably. "Then you can tell him I'm not lost. And I'll be back when I feel like it."

Finn shrugged and headed back the way he'd come from.

"So, are we diving straight back into the staring-eye contest, or are you going to say something?" Rory was stunned as the words came out of her mouth.

Jess smirked. "Long time, no see."

"And that was almost a sentence! Well done." Rory was surprised at how bitter she sounded. She normally wasn't this sarcastic. But today had been a strain on her, and she was beginning to get annoyed at Jess.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jess said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He raised his eyebrows with over-exaggerated feigned concern. "Is my grammar not good enough for you? I bet they teach you a lot of stuff like that at Yale; stuff that has mounds of relevance to real life."

Rory was now angry, and her eyes shot daggers at him. "But you wouldn't know, would you? You threw all that away for a life of seedy apartments and trampy girls. Were you too good for a decent education? Were you so much above a life that may come to be considered fulfilling? But you made your decision." Rory let out a breath. She saw that her words had stung him. She couldn't believe that she had actually said all that. At any other day in her life, just the thought of saying something like that to Jess would have made her feel sick. But today was different.

Jess shook his head and a different expression washed over his face. It almost looked like sadness.

She immediately felt horrible. She swallowed. "Look, I shouldn't have said that. It's just that last time I saw you we parted on bad terms, and all these thoughts have been stewing since then. But I'm sorry."

He didn't say anything. He looked away from her face and focused on the floor.

Rory bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I don't want to fight with you." She looked to the ground. "I didn't think it would be easy." She swallowed. "But I didn't think it would be this hard."

"Did you just think that things between us would go back to the way they were before?" when Jess looked back at her, there was a new look in his eyes that Rory couldn't quite place. "Life is not a fairy tale, Rory. You have to fight for things. They don't just fall into place. And either you know it and choose to ignore the fact, or you're incredibly naïve."

She was irritated again. "We may lead very different lives, but at least I'm making the best of mine."

"Is that what you call having everything handed to you?" He asked bitterly. When she glared in response, he continued. "Real life isn't like that. But you have no clue, no fucking clue. You have no idea what my life is like. You have no right to judge me like that."

Rory blinked tears out of her eyes. Once again, she regretted the words she had said. "Jess, I -"

"I don't want to hear it," he growled. "I've been through hell tonight. Fucking hell."

"Oh yeah?" she felt a third wind coming on. Anger swelled up inside her as she thought about the night she had had, and how Jess had no clue. The tears kept flowing as she talked. "You think you're the only one? You think my life is perfect, don't you? You think you have it so hard, and the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You think everyone's out to get you, and you're the only one who suffers. Well, you're not. I just had the worst night of my life. All these things happening, and I've had no one to talk to. Everything that happened tonight was my fault. Colin could be… d-dead and it's all my fault." She sank to the ground, sobbing. "I'm so sorry, Jess," she said, through her hands, which she had raised to her face. "I d-didn't mean to upset you, I really didn't. I didn't mean to talk to you like that. I don't want you mad at me. B-but all this stuff's been happening tonight, and I was upset and s-scared, and angry. And m-maybe I took it out on you."

He was immediately at her side, with his hand on her back. "Rory, Rory. It's okay. I'm not mad at you." His face was covered in concern, and all traces of anger had been wiped away.

She sniffed and looked at him through teary eyes, grateful. "Thank you."

He pulled her into the hug she'd been longing since he'd left town. She buried her face in his chest. "I missed you," she whispered. Her voice was muffled, and he didn't respond, so she assumed he didn't hear. She didn't repeat herself.

They were still on the floor in the hallway, a fact which Rory didn't notice until Jess gave her a nudge and she looked up to see a passing nurse's glare. "Do you want to take a walk?" he suggested.

She nodded and he helped her to her feet.

They walked through the corridors of the hospital, seeing the dull green walls and smelling the depressing hospital smells, and neither said a word. Rory didn't want to open her mouth again, for fear that she would say something she'd later regret.

"You want to go first?" Jess had broken the silence, but Rory wasn't sure what he meant.

"What?"

"Your night."

She was afraid that if she started talking, the tears would come again. "No. You go first."

He sighed, but took a minute to collect his thoughts. "Fine. I'll make it short. A friend of mine OD'd on heroin and she's in a coma right now." He looked away from Rory and at the ground instead. "Her father's a cop and holds me personally responsible, and will probably see to it that I get locked up, even though I did everything in my power to help her."

Rory had remained silent for the duration of the summary of his night. She felt that he was leaving out something critical, but didn't say anything.

"That's quite the night," She said.

So this was Jess. She was right about him, after all. His life was about people, drugs, and running from the police. Rory felt a bit disappointed in him. Although tonight, he had seemed strangely different. She had never remembered him quite like this. It wasn't like he didn't care before, but he seemed like he genuinely and truly cared about her at this moment.

He shook his head. "I'm fine. But don't think I told you that to get your sympathy." He shot her a quick grin. "Your turn."

Rory didn't know whether or not to let herself open up completely to Jess. Of course, he had just told her the horrors of his night, and she felt she owed it to him to him to explain herself. Besides, she had said a bunch of nasty things to him and she felt he deserved a proper explanation. He was also an ear outside the situation that could perhaps give her advice. And he wouldn't be able to help her unless she told him the whole story. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that she should tell him all of it.

She swallowed and braced herself. "Okay. I went to a bar with three guys from school. Afterwards, somehow I was convinced that getting into a car with them would be a good idea. So it was fine, and we were almost there, and then… I don't know," she paused and stopped walking. "Something ran across the road, we swerved and ended up crashing. The driver went through the windshield. He took off because he didn't want the police after him. My boyfr… my friend got a minor concussion, but I think he's fine now. The other guy was alright because I made him put on his seatbelt. Then, the police questioned me. And I lied. Before he took off, Colin, the driver, told me not to tell the police about him, because he'd get in trouble. So I lied to the police, and I've been worried about that all night."

Jess was silent. He was staring at her with what looked like awe.

"Say something," she said.

"Wow."

She smiled weakly. "Glad to impress."

"You must be tired."

"I've gotten used to it." She said. Then she remembered that Logan was waiting for her. "Oh, no."

"What is it?"

"I need to get back to Logan's room. Crap." Jess smirked at her cursing. When she saw the look on his face, she smiled. "You want to come?"

"I have absolutely nothing better to be doing."

They walked comfortably towards Logan's room, and Rory was glad she had run into Jess. Whatever his present life may be, Jess was still she same guy she had fallen in love with so many years. And although he hadn't shaved in what appeared to be a few weeks, he still had the same mysterious good looks.

"Ace, I thought you'd left the country." Logan's face brightened when she entered the room. It dulled slightly when he saw Jess follow her in.

Finn glanced up warily from beside the window.

"Logan, this is Jess. He's an old friend from Stars Hollow."

"Ah, yes," said Logan, sizing up Jess. "Star's Hollow. Quaint little town, from what I hear."

"That's one way to describe it," Jess said with a patronizing smirk. "So, you're the boyfriend?"

Rory jerked her head towards Jess. For reasons not entirely known to herself, she had purposefully not told Jess that she had a boyfriend. She had made one slip of the tongue, but thought she had covered herself.

"If that's what they're calling it these days," Logan said casually. They hadn't yet had the discussion of what to label their relationship. But Rory could tell that Logan was feeling slightly threatened. "So yes, I'm the boyfriend."

"I see. Well, it's been a nice… chat… but I must get back to my 'girlfriend in a coma'."

Rory was surprised to find herself the only one in the room to understand his reference.

Jess shot a meaningful glance at Rory before leaving the room.

After he had left, Rory thought about what he had implied with the Smith's reference. She was puzzled. She distinctly remembered him saying that the girl in the coma was his 'friend'.

She shook herself as she realized that what she was feeling was disappointment.

* * *

**Author's Note:** This story will probably be continued, that is, if there is enough following. Reviews are greatly appreciated. My apologies for the long time since the last update. 


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